{{B}}Weight Worries May Start Early for Slim Women{{/B}}
There is a range of reasons why thin women think they're too heavy, but the distorted body image may often have its roots in childhood, the results of a new study suggest.
Researchers found that among more than 2,400 thin women they surveyed, nearly 10 percent thought they were too heavy. {{U}}(46) {{/U}}
According to the study authors, led by Dr. Susanne Kruger Kjaer of the Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, society's "ideal" female body is moving toward an underweight physique. {{U}}(47) {{/U}}
To investigate body image among thin women, the researchers gave questionnaires to 2,443 women ages 27 to 38 whose body mass index was at the low end of normal. {{U}}(48) {{/U}}
Overall, almost 10 percent of the women thought they were too heavy. Those who reported certain "severe life events" in childhood or adolescence, such as having a parent become ill or having their educational hopes dashed, were more likely than others to have a distorted body image. {{U}}(49) {{/U}}
In contrast, traumatic events in adulthood, such as serious illness or significant marital problems, were not related to poor body image, the researchers report. {{U}}(50) {{/U}}
A The same was true of4 women who started having sex or drinking alcohol when they were younger than 15 years old.
B Experiences in childhood, including having an ill parent, or starting to drink or have sex at a particularly young age, were among the risk factors for having a distorted body image.
C "Our results indicate that the risk of being dissatisfied with (one's) own body weight may be established early in life," Kjaer and her colleagues write.
D Research suggests that many normal-weight women wish to weigh less.
E If worries have altered your appetite or weight, it will help to talk to someone about it.
F The women were asked about factors ranging from childhood experiences to current exercise habits.